Button-fastener



(No Model.)

J. H. ROBERTSON.

BUTTON FASTENER.

No. 266,528. Patented 001;. 24, 1882.

. Z'zIyfZ WITNESSES: INVBNTOR:

.ymfl/ I i l v jfl ww/g BY (MW ATTORNEYS.

N ITE 5| JAMES H. ROBERTSON, OF BROOKLYN, NE\V YORK.

BUTTON-FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 266,528, dated October 24:, 1882, Application filed January 5, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. ROBERTSON, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Button-Fastener, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to a button-fastener; and it consists in a rivet havinga shank which is cylindrical in cross-section, and which is curved or bent upon itself and toward the inner face of the rivet-head to constitute a hook or loop, and with its free end more or less separated from said inner face of the rivet-head, and being thus adapted to be passed through an oblong slot formed in the material to which the button is to be fastened then to receive the eye of the button by having said eye passed onto it; then to be turned in said slot, so that it will lie relatively thereto at right angles to the longitudinal diameter of the slot and with its free end resting over or upon the surface of said material; and then to have its said end clamped down tightly upon and into said material, whereby, while the button is free to swing on the loop aforesaid, the fastener is held rigidly in place upon said material, alias and for the purpose hereinafter described.

In the accompanyingdrawings, to which reference is made, and which form a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a plan of a piece of leather or other material in which are shown oblong slots. Fig. 2 is an elevation of my improved fastener. Fig. 3 is a plan of a strip of leather or other material having oblong slots in it, and showing my improved fastener inserted therein and in the several positions which it assumes from its initial insertion until it is secured in place on the material, Fig. 4 is a side elevation ,of my improved fastener, showing the same with a button engaged to it and clamped to a strip of leather or cloth, the latter being shown in section on lincxw, Fig. 3.

My improved fastener is composed of a rivet having a head, A, which is preferably flat, and a shank, B, which is cylindrical, or substantially so, as shown. The shank B is bent or curved upon itself and toward the inner face of the rivet-head, thus constituting a hook or loop, as shown. The free end of the shank approaches to, but is separated more or less from, the inner face of the head A, and this separation should be such that the distance or space between the said free end and the inner face of the head will be somewhat greater than the thickness of the leather or other material to which the fastener is to be applied. The shank end is beveled upwardly from the direction of the center of the fastener outwardly, so that when the said end is clamped down, as hereinafter set forth,the face of the shank end will be throughout its extent parallel to the surface of the leather or other material, and will bear flpon the same throughout its extent.

In using my improved fastener the bent shank B is passed coincidently through an oblong slot, D, in the leather or other material, (J, from the under side outward, as shown in Fig. 3. The eye F of the button E is then slipped onto the book of the shank B by being passed over the free end of the bent shank. The fastener is then turned in the slot D, so that its free end of bent shank B will lie over or upon the surface of the leather, as seen in Fig. 3, and it is preferably turned so that the loop or hook ot'the bent shank will be at substantially right angles to the longitudinal diameter of the slot 1). This may be readily done, inasmuch as the shank B is cylindrical inform, as hereinbefore set forth. The free end of the bent shank B is now forced or clamped down upon and into the surface of the leather or other material, and the fastener thus grips the material between the end of said shank and the inner face of the head A. This may be readily accomplished by means of a pair of suitable pliers.

it is evident that while the button is free to swing by its eye 011 the loop of the shank B the fastener itself will be held rigidly in place upon the leather and that the wear upon the leather or the slot 1), consequent upon the movement of the fastener in said slot when the fastener is loose therein, is wholly avoided.

I am aware that button-fasteners have been heretofore made composed of a flat disk of metal adapted to lie upon the under side of the material to which the fastener is applied, and with a hook or loop attached to said disk, in the form of a flattened strip of metal having four sides and oblong in crosssection. Fasteners thus constructed have been passed through slots in the leather or cloth, and after the button is passed onto the flat shank the l free end of the shank has been clamped down upon the inner face of the disk, it being projected downwardly again through the slot in the cloth for that purpose; but fasteners thus formed are not adapted to be turned in the slot in the leather or cloth so as to bring theirfree end over the surface of the cloth, and consequently are not capable of gripping the cloth and holding the fastener rigidly in place on the cloth. The fastener is thus constantly moving about in the slot and causing a wear upon the ,Jeather or cloth, which in a comparatively short time destroys the utility of the device. I do not, however, intend to claim herein, broadly. a button-fastener composed of a disk or head with a shank adapted to receive the eye of the button and then to be clamped down upon the inner face of the disk or head; but I desire to a limit my claim hereunder to the specific devices shown and described, and adapted to operate in the manner and for the purpose particularly set forth-that is to say:

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A button-fastener having the head A and I J AMES H. ROBERTSON.

Witnesses:

J. W. Goon, Oscaa F. GUNZ. 

